Aphrodite
Aphrodite is the Olympian goddess of beauty, love, pleasure, procreation, desire, and sexuality. Some of her attributes were a dove, apple, scallop shell, swan, and a mirror. Mythology Birth Aphrodite was born after Cronus castrated his father and threw his genitals into the sea. From the foam, Aphrodite rose in a scallop shell. With the help of Zephyrus, she was pushed to land. After Zeus had taken over Olympus from his father, he assumed Aphrodite's power and made her marry Hephaestus, god of fire. She didn't like this arrangement and she often had affairs with the war god, Ares. Adonis Adonis was a handsome young mortal man that caught the attention of the love goddess because of his charming good-looks. Aphrodite went down to Earth and began falling in love with this mortal. However, the war god, Ares, the one Aphrodite had been having an affair with. So Ares, angry at Adonis, turned himself into a wild boar and killed Adonis. Persephone, the goddess of springtime and the Underworld, saw Adonis' spirit and she too fell in love with him. However, Aphrodite went to Zeus and begged that he return him to her. However, Persephone didn't like this and she begged for Zeus to leave him in the Underworld. Zeus decided that Adonis would spend four months with Aphrodite and four months with Persephone. He was then left four months to spend with whomever he pleased, but he usually chose Aphrodite. Judgement of Paris At the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, Eris, the only one who wasn't invited, threw one of her golden apples of discord that said "To the Fairest." Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite all said that it was intended for them. Not being able to decide, they turned to Zeus to choose who the apple belonged to. Zeus told Hermes to bring the goddesses to Paris of Troy to decide who the apple belonged to. Each goddess offered Paris different things but he chose Aphrodite, who offered him the love of Helen, the most beautiful woman in Troy. The abduction of Helen led to the Trojan War and the fall of the city, which is why Aphrodite is blamed for the Trojan War. Pygmalion Pygmalion was a talented sculptor in acient Greece. Once he created a carving of a woman and he fell in love with her because she was so beautiful. He gave her clothing and jewels and he even named her Galatea. Pygmalion then went to the temple of the love goddess, Aphrodite, and begged her to give him a wife just like his statue. Aphrodite went to Pygmalion's home to see the statue for herself. She found out that the statue looked similar to herself so she made Galatea come to life. When Pygmalion returned home, he was delighted to see Galatea alive. The two got married and they worshipped Aphrodite until they died by leaving her gifts at her temple. In return, she blessed the couple with love and happiness. Relationships *Uranus (father) *Hephaestus (husband) *Ares (lover) *Anteros (son) *Deimos (son) *Eros (son) *Harmonia (daughter) *Phobos (son) *Erotes (sons) *Priapus (son) *Hermaphroditus (child) *Himeros (son) *Iacchos (son) *Pothos (son) *Peitho (daughter) *Rhodos (daughter) Powers *Aphrodite's appearance changes with each person to however they would see "beautiful". She can make it so people see her in other forms as well and she can change her appearance at will. *She has complete control over emotions like love, lust, desire, and pleasure. *She can change the appearance's of others. *Aphrodite understands fluent french, as it is the language of love. *Aphrodite can persuade others to do things by vocally commanding them to do what she says. *Aphrodite is one of a few goddesses that is able to do magic. However, she can only do love magic. Trivia *Aphrodite is sometimes said to be the daughter of Zeus and Dione. *Her name has inspired the word aphrodisiac. An aphrodisiac is a food that is said to increase sex drive. *Aphrodite is the oldest Olympian. *Aphrodite has a girdle, made by Hephaestus, that makes her even more irresistible. Category:Immortals Category:Goddesses Category:Females